Low-work-function surfaces produced by cesium carbonate decomposition
Cesium carbonate (Cs2CO3) was heated to the decomposition temperature of approximately 600 C. The nonvolatile decomposition products were condensed on a nickel substrate while the carbon dioxide was removed by pumping. The deposited material is characterized by an effective work function of between 1.05 and 1.15 eV at 450 K and by photoemission in the visible and near-infrared region of the spectrum. It is suggested that the deposited material consists of Cs2O, possibly Cs2O2, and adsorbed cesium. Silver, evaporated from a heated silver bead, produced the typical photoemissive and thermionic properties of a silver-oxygen-cesium (S-1) photocathode. The material may be of interest for thermionic energy converters and for the formation of silver-oxygen-cesium photocathodes.